It’s hard to imagine, say, Mack Brown with a pirate fetish. Bob Stoops isn’t the kind to give dating tips at his weekly news conference. That’s Mike Leach. Talk to him for any length of time and “coach” is the furthest word from your mind.

In the wee morning hours on Aug. 31, a dazed Frank Alexander watched blood flow down his right arm as his friends tried to stop it by making a shirt into a tourniquet. Alexander didn’t immediately realize he had been stabbed because he was woozy after someone smashed a bottle across his forehead

Sure, his sophomore running back, Kendall Hunter, is performing well. He leads the Big 12 in rushing by 118 yards. But like many college football fans, Oklahoma State coach Mike Gundy considers his former teammate, Barry Sanders, the best of all time.

In the summer following his All-America recognition last season, Jeremy Maclin probably didn’t need to break a sweat. He made it all look so easy, like he had set an NCAA freshman record with 2,776 all-purpose yards while on cruise control.

Joe Ganz let it fly, but his throw was high. Marlon Lucky had less than a second to react. He threw up his left hand, snagged the ball with one paw before it sailed out of bounds and ran for an 11-yard gain.